Silver cleaning and polishing compound



NIT-ED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

GEORGE R. MEITZLER, OF CINCINNATI, OHIO.

SILVER CLEANING AND POLISHING COMPOUND.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No; 503,612, dated August22, 1893.

Application filed June 13, 1892- Serial No. 436,544. (No specimens) Toall whom it may concern.-

Be it known that I, GEORGE E. MEITZLER, acitizen of the United States,residing at Oincinnati, in the county of Hamilton and State of Ohio,have invented a new and useful Silver Cleaning and Polishing Compound;and I do declare the following to be a full, clear, and exactdescription of the invention, suchas will enable others skilled in theart to which it appertains to make and use the same.

and dissolvent and whereby the action of the first ingredient ismaterially assisted. It also saponifies fats and fatty impurities andchanges them into an emulsion which is very readily removed and thencarries such fats with it. The third ingredient produces during use'afoamy paste, which surrounds and envelops the particles of whiting andin this form prevents them from scratching the silver, while at the sametime giving the compound its polishing qualities. This form furtherprevents the whiting adhering to, settling into, or filling up crevices,corners, &c., of ornamental work on which the mixture may be used. Thefourth ingredient is used mainly as a perfume to counteract the smell ofthe ammonia. The carmine is used as a coloring medium, to give thecompound a loud color which prevents the presence of any part of it inobscure portions of the object to be cleaned, from being overlooked, andfaciliiates its complete removal after cleaning.

By experiments I have found that the following proportions produce thebest effects while slight variations from said proportions give stillacceptable results. Parts by weight:

precipitated whiting, twenty-four parts; ammonia, eight parts powderedsoap-bark, three parts; oil of Sassafras, one part; carmine, one part.

The mixture so produced is of a pasty consistency and for commerce anduse I prefer to put it up in collapsible tubes of one and one half ouncecapacity, the tubes being of the well known form used for holding moistcolors and similar substances. In this shape it is sold, each tubecarrying the necessary directions which inform the user that if thecontents of the whole tube are to be usedat once, such contents shouldbe dissolved in one pint of water. If less is needed the quantity ofwater should be proportionately lessened.

The compound so diluted is now ready for use and is best applied by asponge with which the object to be cleaned and polished is rubbed, afterwhich the same is wiped dry with a chamois-skin or cloth and allparticles of the mixture are removed, its red color readily showingtheir presence.

This compound may also be used on diamonds, Roman-gold jewelry, platedware in general and cut-glass.

I am aware that similar compounds, containing either one or two of myingredients have been used, but none contain the exact combination whichI have, nor do they use an ingredient like ammonia for instance, whichhas saponifying properties combined with a suificiently low degree ofvolatility notpossessed by alcoholic substances and which gives thesaponifying properties time to fully develop their effective action insoftening hardened or incrusted impurities before the liquid isevaporated. By this extended action fatty impurities, especially afterhaving become incrusted, are changed into a fatty emulsion, which isreadily removed and which quality makes my compound especiallypreferable to others.

Having described my invention, I claim as new- A compound of the kinddescribed containing precipitated whiting, powered soap-bark, oil ofsassafras and carmine, when combined with an ingredient possessingsaponifying properties and being of lower degree of vola- In testimonywhereof I afiix my signature in tility than alcoholic substances, likeammonia presence of two witnesses. for instance, which remains moist asufficient length of time to act upon incrusted impnri- GEORGE "MEITZLER5 ties before the applied compound becomes Witnesses:

dry, all parts in the proportions stated, snb- ALFRED N. DAVIS,

stantially as and for the purposes described. CHAS. SPENGEL,

